Mary-andering Creatively Receives Awards

My Fellow Bloggers Recognize Me with Blogging Awards

What a great way to start out the New Year! Other bloggers have recognized me with awards recently.  First, Leslie from Forever Joyful sent me a nice note saying she nominated me for a Liebster Award. Plus, Kelly from Raising Samuels tweeted me that she had also nominated me for the same award.

Leslie Dejarnette from ForeverJoyful.net

Kelly with her son.

The Liebster Award is passed from blogger to blogger as a source of encouragement. Who doesn’t love to be encouraged? Each Liebster Award  recipient should:

• Post the award to her blog
• Answer  the nominating blogger’s ten question interview
• Nominate 3-10 other bloggers with fewer than 3,000 followers whom she wants to encourage
• Create ten questions for the new nominees.

Then earlier in November Pat and Candy from PatandCandy.com honored me with special recognition as well. I was so thankful, but with the holiday season it seemed impossible to make time to write my announcement post. Now with the New Year, I wanted to share how these wonderful blogging friends have blessed me. I am so honored with their kindness.

Both awards are very similar so I felt I could write about them together.

For the Blogger Recognition Award you have to :

~ Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. (PatandCandy.com) This the post in which they announced the nomination.

~ Attach the award to the post

~ Write a post to show off your award

~ Give a brief story of how your blog started

~ Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers

~ Select 15 other bloggers you want to give the award to. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.

~ Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them.

With the Liebster Award, you also display the award and answer a series of questions provided by your nominee. Leslie asked me the following questions:

1. What is your favorite memory associated with blogging?
2. What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in blogging?
3. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
4. How has your blog impacted your family?
5. What is your top blogging goal for 2016?
6. If you could sum up your life priorities in five words, what would they be?
7. What is your favorite book (other than the Bible) and why?
8. What is your favorite Scripture and why?
9. What should we be teaching our children about how to become better writers?
10. Share a fun random fact.

Kelly asked me these questions:

I published my first blog post in January 2013 on Google’s Blogspot. I had no idea how to blog or how to attract readers. I had the mentality that if “I built my blog, the readers would come.”  This post that I published in 2013 gives a timeline on the creation of my blog. I first started my blog to comment on current events and politics, but felt God directing me in a different direction. I blog about Him and His impact on my life. My goal with each post is to inspire others to seek Him and to find blessings in walking with Him.

My blog grew slowly through the first few months.  The biggest growth came from participating in blog hops such as the one hosted by Pat and Candy and also the three weekly hops at Create With Joy. If you are a new blogger, I really suggest that  you participate in blog hops and blogger Facebook groups! These hops and groups are sure ways to grow your blog audience in the beginning.  To grow a local audience, I suggest you have business cards made and pass them out at coffee shops. A lot of folks use coffee shops to read and use their computers. I have a great blend of readers on a local level and throughout the blogosphere.

One of  my favorite memories as a blogger is being featured by Ramona at Create with Joy on her Friendship Friday hop. I loved her wonderful write up.  She featured a blog post that I had written for Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday community. This hop is a not miss if your blog features creative writing and poetry. Each week more than 100 bloggers join together to free write for five minutes on a one-word prompt.

I think my greatest challenge in blogging is pushing myself to write when I am in pain. I suffer from chronic pain associated with arthritis and fibromyalgia. I sometimes go days without blogging because of severe flares during which typing and creating is difficult because of the pain and resulting inability to focus. I have shared some about these challenges in these posts: Why I Write and When Things Don’t Go As Planned.

My  favorite aspect of blogging is building community.  As bloggers, we support one another and encourage each other to keep pursuing our writing and creative dreams. I enjoy the comments I receive. I also enjoy new followers who leave encouragement and come back often. I think both Facebook and Twitter help grow my blog audience. I see a lot of readers coming from both venues. 😉

Blogging impacts my family in at least two ways. When I write and blog, sometimes my family members feel I don’t take enough time with them. Other times, they love to read my writing and even offer suggestions for blog posts.  It takes time to blog, and you have to strike a balance daily.  Sometimes, the blog has to wait.  God and family are the biggest priorities in my life.

I would like to grow to more than 10,000 followers. I have about 2,900 now. Even more I would love to see my monthly page views grow to more than 10,000. I average between 2,500 to 3,000  a month.   During a recent conference, I learned that publishers look closely at the total number of email subscribers that you have and will consider you for publication after you have about 30,000 subscribers.  I have about 4,200 subscribers, but very few open my weekly newsletter. I am pondering how to improve this situation. I have thought about offering freebies of essays or printables in each newsletter, but I have to study on how to accomplish this.

Summing up my life priorities in five words: Grow in love for Christ. I guess that would be the best goal I could have which leads me to one of my favorite scriptures:  Matthew 6:33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

My favorite book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I love the major theme of this book: the power of education to lift you out of difficult circumstances.  We should teach our children that when they study to show themselves approved in all areas including the Bible and school subjects, they please God and lay the foundation for a successful life. We also have to encourage a love of reading in our children. Readers are better writers.

My top blogging goals of 2016 is to continue to blog for God’s glory and to point others to Him. I feel if I put Him first in all that I do the rest will follow.  In three years, I hope to continue to blog for Him. I also hope, if it is His will, that I will publish a book that will help others draw closer to Him in some aspect of their lives. I want to bless others.

My nominations for both awards:

Barbara at Stray Thoughts

Gayl Wright at Thoughts and Art From My Heart

Michele Morin at Living Our Days

Rhiannon Skeen at Whatsoever is Lovely Living

Lindsey Andrews

Jenny Shinsky Living a Faith-Filled Life

Tara Ulrich at Praying on the Prairie

Diane Thorton at Sweeter than Honey

Richetta at Splendid Chronicles

Ashley Hales at Circling the Story

Mackenzie Carol at Spreading His Grace

Shantala at Shanaya Tales

Lr Jamison (Lowanda) at Sunshine and Elephants

Mary Geisen at Passage through Grace

Tami at This Mom’s Delight

I am going to keep this simple for those I have nominated. Please answer any of the questions from above or tell us about your blogging life, when you started, what you blog about, and your blogging goals for the New Year.

Linking up the great blog hop parties listed on my Linkup Parties page. I updated it this week so be sure to check it out!